Monday, October 10, 2011

Hello Everyone!! My how time flies...I'm sure some of you have wondered "what in the world is going on with the Hobbs!" Well, here we go...

As I mentioned before in a previous blog, summer is crazy on Catalina Island! We held on tight for the ride and made it to the other side - a little worn out and dizzy, but here we are. Fall is now in the air. We have experienced one day of stormy rain, then a chilly cold front ushered in Fall. School is in and things are beginning to calm down. So now let me fill you in about some huge stuff that has happened in our lives over the past month.

The day before school started we went "overtown" (to the mainland) for dentist appointments and some shopping. We had not been there long when Andrew stepped down off a curb onto a very uneven section of pavement and hit the ground with a yell. He had sprained his ankle (torn ligaments and all) and that was his first day of not being able to walk for a little over 2 weeks. Who would ever have thought that this guy who works in a physically risky job as a zip guide and never has an injury would step off a curb and be taken out for 2 weeks? It was crazy.

So, we get home and the kids experience their very first day of public school (Maddi and Harrison - Grace is still Homeschooling with Mom :)). The day was very exciting and quite an experience that would soon be overshadowed. That evening as Harrison is bringing his backpack up to the house - riding his razor scooter - the wheel twists and he falls. All of his weight comes down and his elbow is caught between him and the concrete. An unfortunate position. He runs in the house crying that he thinks his arm is broken so we run him to the emergency room. Xrays reveal that it is indeed broken - but its his elbow and it looks really bad. So the next day we take him "overtown" again - this time to an orthopedic specialist who looks at it and gravely announces that he will need surgery right away. God arranged that we get the best surgeon in the area (the top at UCLA) to do the surgery - we had no idea how that happened, it was truly a gift. Harrison is now our "bionic boy" with seven screws in his elbow! Pretty amazing. He just got the stitches from the incision taken out this past Wednesday and is healing nicely. He is doing therapy and is able to move it, although not fully extended yet.

So, how to react to all of this? Wow...honestly, it was hard. But God was good through it all to point out to us where He was. We realize that having Andrew unable to work made him more available to his kids during this huge transition into a new school situation. Also more available to Harrison during his pain and questioning. Of course, being 13, he doesn't get "suffering". This accident has been a refining process for him to decide for himself if he actually believes in all of this "God stuff" that his parents hold fast to. There comes a time for all of us to decide if we trust that God is good, or do we walk according to what we see and feel at any given moment - that maybe there really is no God or that He has abandoned me if there is.

2 Corinthians 4:8,16-18: "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed...Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

We choose - and Harrison has chosen - to trust and believe. To fix our eyes on what is unseen. God is incredibly faithful and continues to rain down blessings on this family. Andrew is back to work now and because his injury happened on the property of a McDonald's restaraunt, they are paying for all doctor's visits AND lost wages! God has used many of YOU to bless us with financial gifts during this time that will be used toward Harrison's costs. We have no doubt that God has allowed hardship to refine us and to cause us to watch Him provide. He is faithful!

About Me

"Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, REVEL in Him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."
Philippians 4:4-7 (Message)